Here is my planted sorority tank so far. I am still trying to get ahold of more things to provide cover in the top region, but once things grow a little it will be a little better. Let me know what you think, and also opinion on which algae eaters I should get.

It's a 20 gallon for 9 females. I have two nerites in it, Ricky and Lucy, and I am a little concerned about them because I havent seen them for a day or two and I think thery are in the log decoration. I hope they can get out. When should I get worried?? I was thinking more like an otto to get algea from the leaves but OFL said they are social fish and I am getting close to overstocked soooooo I don't know what to get for that. The light is just the buld I got with the light but I will be shopping for a new one soon. It just says 15w.

I would turn on the lights in the middle of the night and see if you can see them. They're nocturnal. You could maybe try some shrimp too but they need tons of hiding places and your girls may or may not attack them.

One thing I was considering was to add the girls and see how it goes for a week or so, and THEN decide what else to put in there just in case they seem too aggressive with just them alone. I'll try the night thing for sure!! I just don't want to smell putrid water in a week and end up diving for a rotting snail body...

That looks great! -- plenty of hiding spaces, although it's a bit dark, I see that you are already working on a new light though. look on aquatraders.com they have an odyssea 2 light t5ho 24" for like $39.00 with free shipping. Great deal and a quality light for the price. It was highly recommended to me on my hunt. If you have a bit more to spend then the finnex ray2 is an amazing LED that is in the moderate range with a great par rating...I got mine for $98 on amazon. It's a bit pricey, but you make up for it in the long run because the LED's last forever and you wouldn't have to replace the flourescent tubes and starters every year. Oh, and ebay also has some great deals too. --sorry for the long list, I just went through the whole light shopping ordeal though and it can get to be a huge headache if you don't know what you're looking for exactly.
For algea, you could get a few amano shrimp -- they are great algea eaters, are too big for your bettas mouths, and have an extremely low bioload
I wouldn't worry about the nerites. you can try to pick up the driftwood to see if they are under there, but they really do enjoy hiding. I learned that with my ramshorns. I'd have like 40 hiding in the nooks and crannies of my DW every time I picked it up to tie the moss back on.

Thanks!! No I really appreciate the info, I wish more people would just tell me what they know straight up. I will definitely check that out. Even though I have like... no money, price isn't really an issue because I have invest so much in this already it seems almost stupid to skimp now. What wattage would be the best for the tank?? I know some have different spectrums etc, and if you could tell me anything about that it would be awesome :)

Btw, does my dwarf hair grass look all crappy because of the light? or is it just getting used to the water... or not liking the seachem plant additives I am putting in there? It is one of my favorite plants and it makes me sad that it looks sad... haha

Well you'll want more wattage for lighting, as well as 6500k lights. You aim for 2 watts per gallon but some plants need more than that and some plants like anubias need shade. Many plants will kind of melt when you adjust them to new parameters but then grow new leaves or shoots from the mostly dead plant. My Val's when it arrived mostly melted and I had to cut the leaves really short and its growing a new, green shoot now.

My Nerite doesn't hide much but my Betta in that tank is blind and doesn't bother her. She's more active at night though and I looked it up and they are actually nocturnal, lol. I noticed they're much more active in cycled tanks, though.